Why children confuse Russian and English letters

Why is this happening?

For adults, Russian and English letters are different systems. And for a child who is just learning to read, letters first look like pictures. If the picture is similar, the brain automatically uses a familiar rule.

Therefore, your child can see the Russian letter B and read it as the English letter V, the letter H as H, P as P, C as C, Y as Y, and X as X. He is not lazy or “inattentive”: he relies on the alphabet that has already become familiar to him.

Which letters are most often confused

The most difficult ones are deception letters. They look familiar, but read differently: B, H, R, C, U, X. Separately can be confused B, D, L, Z, E, because their form is unusual for a child who first mastered the Latin alphabet.

Sometimes your child is good at naming the letter separately, but wrong in the word. This is normal: in real reading, he needs to simultaneously recognize the letter, remember the sound, connect it with neighboring letters and understand the word.

What not to do

It does not help the constant “well, this is obvious” or comparison with children who study in a Russian school. For a bilingual, the task is really more complicated: he holds two writing systems in his head, and they can interfere with each other.

If each mistake is corrected immediately, your child begins to be afraid to read aloud. Then he either guesses even faster or says he doesn't like Russian.

How to help a child

Short workouts with pairs of letters work best: B - V, H - H, P - P. It is useful not just to name a letter, but to look for it in words, circle, lay out cards and read short funny phrases.

It's important to take small steps. First, your child learns to recognize letters without haste, then read syllables, then short words. As the confusion goes away, reading becomes calmer, and Russian ceases to seem “weird English.” If your child already recognizes the letters, but still stumbles on reading, you can continue to see the article. Why a Russian textbook can be difficult for a bilingual child.